The battle for Britain's future was on a knife edge last night with the final EU referendum polls making the contest too close to call.

An exclusive survey for the Daily Mail and ITV News, gave the Remain camp a lead of six points, by 48 per cent to 42 per cent – but 11 per cent of electors said they were still undecided.

Crucially, the Leave campaign's key message that now is the time for Britain to 'take control' of its own destiny has had the biggest cut-through with voters.

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Showdown: David Cameron and Boris Johnson criss-crossed the country as they campaigned yesterday

Some 44 per cent said it made them more likely to vote to quit the Brussels club – outstripping the claim by Project Fear that leaving is a leap in the dark.

In a slew of other polls, Leave either led or the contest was neck and neck. The ComRes poll for the Mail reveals Britain is a divided country with over 45s and those in the North breaking heavily for Leave.

All age groups below 45 appear in favour of staying with 64 per cent of those aged 25 to 34 wanting to stay and 27 per cent opting to go. Among the 55 to 65 age group, however, just 31 per cent want to Remain and 55 per cent want to Leave.

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In the South 38 per cent want to Leave while 51 per cent want to stay. But in the North, it is 41 per cent Remain and 50 per cent Leave. The Midlands is almost exactly balanced with 45 per cent support for Remain and 44 per cent for Leave.

Overall, after 'don't knows' are counted, Remain would lead 54 per cent to 46 per cent. The poll of 1,032 adults was conducted over the weekend, during part of which the campaign was halted after the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox.

Some 17 per cent say that they may still change their mind.

In its final survey, Opinium said after talking to 3,000 people the referendum was a 'statistical dead heat' with Leave on 45 per cent and Remain on 44 per cent - meaning after taking margin of error into account it was impossible to pick a winner

Opinium's surveys during June have showed a small overall drift toward Leave as undecided voters made up their minds but the pollster said the race was still too close to call

The reputation of key politicians has been hit. The number of voters citing David Cameron as important in their decision has fallen from 34 per cent in May to 26 per cent now.

Only a third of Britons say Mr Cameron would be the best person to negotiate Britain's withdrawal from the EU as Prime Minister in the event of Brexit, though this is higher than anyone else.

In a blow for Chancellor George Osborne, his warning that house prices will be lower in the event of Brexit made people more likely to vote Leave than Remain – by 17 per cent to 20 per cent.

Last night a flurry of eve-of-referendum polls suggested the result is still too close to call, with TNS giving the Brexit camp a 43 per cent to 41 per cent advantage.

A YouGov poll for The Times gave Remain a lead of 51 to 49. FTI Consulting gave Remain the edge by 51.4 per cent to 48.6 per cent once 'don't knows' are taken out.

Boris Johnson gives a thumbs up as he leaves Selby, North Yorkshire, on a hectic day of campaigning

Opinium Research recorded a tiny lead for Brexit in its final survey of 3,000 voters this week as it found 45 per cent backed Leave and 44 per cent backed Remain.

But after taking into account the margin of error in the study, the firm declared it impossible to predict a winner.

A week ago, Opinium had the referendum tied at 44 per cent each while at the start of June the pollster had Remain ahead 43-41.

The poll fits with the mixed found by all of the polling firms in the last week of the race, with some results showing small leads for either side while other showed a tie.

By contrast, betting markets have continued to show Remain as the strong favourite as the race enters its final hours.

Adam Drummond, of Opinium Research said: 'This really is ''too close to call'' territory with undecided voters holding the balance of the vote in their hands.

'Although referendum campaigns normally see a move back to the status quo as we get closer to polling day, this hasn't yet shown up in our polls and the Remain camp will have to hope that it happens in the polling booth itself if Britain is to stay in the European Union.'

In its latest poll, Opinium interviewed 3,011 voters between Monday and Wednesday.

David Cameron was greeted by school children as his whistlestop tour took him to Bloxham near Banbury yesterday in his final push for votes before the referendum

Boris Johnson was mobbed as he took the Vote Leave campaign's final push to Selby in North Yorkshire

The final day of the referendum campaign has seen the main contenders criss-crossing the country to appear at a string of eve-of-poll rallies.

David Cameron joined forces with former PM Sir John Major and Labour's Harriet Harman for a rally in Bristol this morning.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has visited the famous Billingsgate Fish market as he traversed the country in a Vote Leave helicopter.

During the rally in Bristol, Mr Cameron urged voters to stick with Brussels to ensure a 'bigger better Britain'.

He rejected Leave claims that Britain would be 'shackled to a corpse' if it chose to stick in the EU, telling supporters in Bristol the Remain case could be summed up in the single word: 'Together'.

2.30pm: The Vote Leave campaign arrived in Selby, North Yorkshire as Boris Johnson pressed the case for Brexit with just a few hours until the polls opened

2.19pm: Planes carrying pro-Remain banners staged a fly-past at the Houses of Parliament this afternoon

2pm: David Cameron and Harriet Harman met farmer David Christensen on Kington Hill Farm in Abingdon, Oxfordshire as he continued his campaign this afternoon

CAMERON INSISTS IMMIGRATION CAN BE CURBED WITHIN THE EU DESPITE NEAR-RECORD FIGURES IN BAD-TEMPERED INTERVIEW

David Cameron has blamed mass immigration on our 'unnatural' economy as he insisted numbers will be curbed if we stay in the EU.

As the referendum campaign entered its final frantic hours, the Prime Minister said freedom of movement rules will be re-examined if we stay in the bloc.

He defended his target of bringing net migration down from around 330,000 a year to below 100,000 as 'realistic', and also denied that being in the Brussels club was like being 'shackled to a corpse'.

The claims came as both sides in the bitter campaign stepped up their efforts on the eve of the crucial ballot.

In a bad-tempered interview in BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Cameron said immigration had been stubbornly running at around three times his target over recent years because it was 'not a normal period'.

'As recently as 2008, if you look at the situation of British people and European nationals leaving Britain to go to Europe and European nationals coming to Britain, there was actually net negative migration in terms of Europe,' he said.

'If we want a bigger economy and more jobs, we are better if we do it together,' the PM said.

'If we want to fight climate change, we are better if we do it together. If we want to win against the terrorists and keep our country safe, we are better if we do it together.'

Sir John took a swipe at Mr Johnson and Justice Secretary Michael Gove as 'gravediggers of our prosperity', suggesting he had 'expected better' from them.

Quitting the EU would not stem immigration and risked creating a broken Britain, he insisted.

Leaving would be a 'disproportionate' response to migration concerns and the country would live to regret it for a 'long time to come'.

1pm: Jeremy Corbyn addressed activists in central London after speaking at the Unison conference in Brighton this morning

The former London Mayor took to the skies in a helicopter to continue the push for Brexit

Mr Johnson has appealed for voters to make the EU referendum Britain's 'Independence Day'

He said: 'If our nation does vote to leave, we must respect their decision, but if they vote to leave on the basis of half-truths and untruths and misunderstandings, then pretty soon the grave-diggers of our prosperity will have some very serious questions to answer.'

'They will have to account for what they have said and done but that will be of little consolation for we will be out, out for good, diminished as an influence on the world.

'A truly Great Britain shrunk down to a little England perhaps without Scotland, perhaps with a grumpy Wales, and certainly with a Northern Ireland divided from the south by the border the controls that would then be the edge of the European Union.'

Dismissing accusations that the Remain campaign had been 'project fear', he insisted that Mr Cameron had a 'duty' to to warn the nation of the dangers of quitting.

11.30am: Nigel Farage brandished his passport with EU markings during an appearance in London

10.30am: David Cameron was in Bristol at a rally with former Prime Minister Sir John Major and Labour's Harriet Harman

Sir John took a swipe at Mr Johnson and Michael Gove, branding them the 'gravediggers of our prosperity'

10am: Mr Cameron and Mrs Harman went to the offices of sports distribution firm Shiner in Bristol

YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANYTHING ELSE! CAMERON GOT THE 'MAXIMUM' FROM HIS RENEGOTIATION AND THE EU HAS NO MORE TO OFFER AFTER BREXIT VOTE, COMMISSION BOSS WARNS

British voters were warned there is no chance of a second renegotiation with the EU if they back Brexit yesterday.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU Commission President, said 'out is out' and ruled out re-opening talks in a bid to reverse a vote to quit the EU.

In remarks sure to be seized upon by the Vote Leave campaign, Mr Juncker said David Cameron got the 'maximum' reform possible in his renegotiation that was concluded in February.

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker today claimed David Cameron had already extracted the 'maximum' from the EU Britain would not get any other reforms by voting for Brexit

The deal has been derided as empty and useless by Brexit campaigners and the Prime Minister has been forced to admit more reform is still needed.

Mr Juncker said yesterday: 'The British policy makers and British voters have to know that there will not be any kind of renegotiation. Out is out.'

He added: 'We have concluded a deal with the prime minister. He got the maximum he could receive and we gave the maximum we could give.

'So there will be no renegotiation, not on the agreement we found in February, nor as far as any kind of treaty negotiations are concerned.'

Vote Leave champion Michael Gove said: 'The Remain Campaign has been claiming in recent days that if you vote to stay in the EU then there could be further reform. The President of the EU, Jean-Claude Juncker, has made very clear today that will not happen.

'If you vote to stay there is no prospect of getting any reform from the EU ever again. We will never get back control of the £350 million we give to the EU every week. The Prime Minister tried to get reforms earlier this year but the EU did not listen. The EU cannot and will not give the British people the change that they want.

'There is a very clear choice in this referendum. Either you vote to keep on giving the EU more power and more of our money every year or join me in voting leave to take back control.'

He said: 'In return for doing that he has faced a great deal of opposition and sometimes abuse from people who, frankly, we might have expected better from.

'I think the way in which he has conducted himself in putting the country before self and the country before party is quite remarkable.'

Mr Johnson, however, said it was 'time to break away from the failing and dysfunctional EU system', telling activists in Maldon, Essex: 'I do think that we are on the verge, possibly, of an extraordinary event in the history of our country and indeed in the whole of Europe.

'It's all going to be about getting our supporters out to vote and if we do it I really think tomorrow can be independence day.'

Criss-crossing the country by plane, Mr Johnson signed autographs and posed for selfies in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Mr Cameron, seen inspecting a skateboard with Shiner chief executive Charlie Allen, said Britain would be 'bigger and better' if it stayed in the EU

11am: Mr Johnson went on a walkabout in Ashby de la Zouch as part of his final push for Brexit yesterday

The former London mayor posed for selfies and chatted to members of the public during his visit

But he was heckled by 17-year-old Will Taylor who said: 'I'm annoyed that I can't vote and as a young person it's my future.'

In a speech to Unison's annual conference in Brighton this morning, Mr Corbyn said Labour supported EU membership but wanted reform.

Thursday's vote will be one of the most 'significant ' decisions ever taken in this country, he said.

Mr Corbyn added: 'Labour formed the NHS, creating healthcare as a human right. That does not apply to most countries in the world. We have to defend that principle to our dying day.'

He also attacked comments by supporters of Brexit against a health service free on demand.

'A vote to leave will put the NHS in jeopardy,' he told the Brighton conference.'

The veteran left-winger later addressed a rally in central London.

7am: Boris Johnson kicked off his frenetic last round of campaigning at London's famous Billingsgate Market this morning

MICHAEL GOVE MAKES GROVELLING APOLOGY FOR COMPARING PRO-EU EXPERTS TO NAZI PROPAGANDISTS AFTER CAMERON ACCUSES HIM OF HAVING 'LOST IT

Michael Gove has made a grovelling apology after comparing pro-EU experts to Nazi propagandists.

The Justice Secretary admitted he had been 'clumsy and inappropriate' to make the comments as he dismissed dire forecasts for the consequences of Brexit.

The climbdown came after David Cameron branded the remarks a 'massive mistake' and suggested that Mr Gove had 'lost it'.

Michael Gove (pictured) compared economic experts warning about the fall-out of Brexit to the Nazis who orchestrated a smear campaign against Albert Einstein in the 1930s

Recalling the Nazis' treatment of Jewish scientist Einstein during the 1930s, Mr Gove had told LBC: 'I think the key thing here is to interrogate the assumptions that are made and to ask if these arguments are good.

'We have to be careful about historical comparisons, but Albert Einstein during the 1930s was denounced by the German authorities for being wrong and his theories were denounced, and one of the reasons of course he was denounced was because he was Jewish.

'They got 100 German scientists in the pay of the government to say that he was wrong and Einstein said: 'Look, if I was wrong, one would have been enough.'''

Mr Gove added: 'The truth is that if you look at the quality of the analysis, if you look at the facts on the ground, you can come to an appropriate conclusion.

'And the appropriate conclusion, I think, all of us can come to is that with growth rates so low in Europe, with so many unemployed and with the nature of the single currency so damaging, freeing ourselves from that project can only strengthen our economy.'

He made his comments after being challenged over why he is not heeding the advice of many economists who have warned that Brexit could have dire consequences and tip the economy into recession.